Advertise on podcast: Power Trends: New York ISO Podcast

Electricity prices are rising across New York, and understanding what drives those costs has never been more important. In this Power Trends podcast, NYISO Vice President of Market Structures Shaun Johnson breaks down the factors shaping today’s electricity supply charges and explains how wholesale markets produce the most cost-efficient solutions to meet consumer demand.  Wholesale electricity supply costs have been climbing as natural gas prices — New York’s primary fuel for electricity — have nearly doubled in the past year. Most of what customers pay goes toward utility delivery charges, taxes, and other non-supply components.  Electricity bills can be confusing, but Johnson breaks down the two primary charges:  The supply cost makes up approximately one third of your bill. The other two thirds are the retail rates your utility company charges plus taxes and fees.The physical composition of the gas pipeline infrastructure factors into retail delivery costs as well. Because New York and New England sit at the tail end of a pipeline network that originates in the Colorado Rockies and the Gulf Coast, delivery costs to northeastern states are among the highest in the nation. As the state moves toward greater electrification and new large loads emerge, demand is expected to keep growing. At the same time, aging generation and long lead times for new resources are tightening supply. These realities put upward pressure on prices too. “Our market philosophy has always been sort of simple,” Johnson notes, “how do we keep the lights on at the lowest cost via competition.” Check out the complete podcast to explore how wholesale markets function, what’s driving today’s costs, and how NYISO works to maintain grid reliability at the lowest cost — even when fuel prices surge. More resources Please visit our new winter pricing resource page to explain what's behind rising costs. Learn More Follow us on X/Twitter @NewYorkISO, LinkedIn @NYISO, Bluesky @nyiso.com Read our blogs and watch our videos

New York’s electric grid is at an inflection point. In the latest Power Trends podcast, Senior Vice President of System and Resource Planning Zach Smith unpacks two critical reliability reports recently issued by the NYISO: the Comprehensive Reliability Plan (CRP) and the 2025 Third Quarter Short-Term Assessment of Reliability (STAR). These studies reveal the grid’s mounting challenges—from aging generation and accelerating power plant retirements to surging demand driven by electrification and large-scale industrial projects. Extreme weather and supply chain constraints add complexity in planning for the future, Smith says. He notes that assumptions over the next 10 years must also consider a reduced ability to depend on electricity imports from neighboring grids in the future. “We are part of the Eastern Interconnection and it’s one of the most amazing machines in the world—it’s the entire eastern half of North America,” says Smith, explaining that it has long been a key factor in supporting reliability. “However, our neighbors are experiencing these same strained conditions that we are.”  To address these uncertainties, the NYISO is proposing to shift from a single forecast approach to one that considers multiple plausible futures to examine reliability under a range of scenarios. He highlights the urgent need for dispatchable resources to complement the build-out of renewables and energy storage, and the importance of projects like the Champlain Hudson Power Express for New York City and Long Island. Check out the full episode to learn how NYISO is adapting its planning process to maintain reliability during this pivotal moment. The current energy landscape requires an “all of the above” approach to generation, transmission, and demand-side solutions. Additional Resources: ·        2025-2034 Comprehensive Reliability Plan (CRP) ·        Short-Term Assessment of Reliability: 2025 Quarter 3 (STAR) Learn More Follow us on X/Twitter @NewYorkISO, LinkedIn @NYISO, Bluesky @nyiso.com Read our blogs and watch our videos

In Episode 40 of the Power Trends podcast, NYISO Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Emilie Nelson offers a behind-the-scenes look at how the grid was managed during June’s heatwave, which brought record-setting temperatures across the Northeast. Nelson walks through the critical decisions and emergency measures that helped ensure adequate supply margins across New York.  According to Nelson, forecasting, demand response, and a mix of energy resources—including solar and wind—helped manage the system during a period of sustained heat. The episode also covers the NYISO’s new Grid Alert System, which communicated system conditions in real time. Energy Watch and Energy Warning alerts were issued to the public over the course of the three-day event when reserves dipped below 2,620 and 1,964 megawatts, respectively. Nelson also describes how the NYISO prepares for periods of high demand, and how coordination among neighboring grid operators plays a critical role in maintaining system reliability. Listen to Episode 40 of Power Trends to learn more about how the grid is managed during extreme weather events. Visit our System Conditions page to learn more about the Grid Alert System. Additional Resources June Heatwave Tests Electric Grid in New York Learn More Follow us on X/Twitter @NewYorkISO, LinkedIn @NYISO, Bluesky @nyiso.com Read our blogs and watch our videos

The electric system is undergoing rapid and instrumental change on a scale not experienced since 1892 when Thomas Edison first electrified the Pearl Street station in lower Manhattan. In the NYISO’s latest podcast, President & CEO Rich Dewey, and Executive Vice President & COO Emilie Nelson discuss how these changes are impacting grid reliability, supply resources and planning the electric system for the future. Diving into the NYISO’s recently released Power Trends report with Kevin Lanahan, podcast host and Vice President of External Affairs and Corporate Communications, they highlight how every plausible option and opportunity to bolster reliability and resource needs should be on the table. The conversation includes discussion of the following Power Trends 2025 key messages:  Generator deactivations are outpacing new supply additions. Electrification programs and new large-load customers associated with economic development initiatives are pushing projected demand higher. Together, these forces are also narrowing reliability margins across New York and increasing the risk of future reliability needs.As public policy goals seek to decarbonize the grid, fossil-fired generation will be needed for reliable power system operations until the capabilities it offers can be supplied by other resources. Energy efficiency and Demand-Side Management (DSM) will continue to play a key role in reducing energy consumption, lowering costs, and mitigating environmental impacts.Repowering aging power plants can lower emissions, meet rising consumer demand, and provide reliability benefits to the grid that are needed to integrate additional clean energy resources.New York is projected to become a winter-peaking electric system by the 2040s, driven primarily by electrification of space heating and transportation. On the coldest days, the availability of natural gas for power generation can be limited, and interruptions to natural gas supply will introduce further challenges for reliable electric grid operations.Driven by public policies, new supply, load, and transmission projects are seeking to interconnect to the grid at record levels. NYISO's interconnection processes continue to evolve to balance developer flexibility with the need to manage the process to more stringent timeframes. New processes have been implemented to accelerate the process while protecting grid reliability.The competitive wholesale electricity markets administered by the NYISO support reliability while minimizing costs to consumers. Competitive wholesale markets are essential to a reliable, affordable and cleaner grid of the future. Listen now to gain a better understanding of the complex challenges facing New York’s grid. Learn More Follow us on X/Twitter @NewYorkISO, LinkedIn @NYISO, Bluesky @nyiso.com Read our blogs and watch our videos

Collaboration between the industry and government will be paramount to maintain robust wholesale markets and ensure grid reliability as the state continues to promote rapid development of renewable resources in the coming year. That was the message from NYISO President and CEO Rich Dewey on the latest Power Trends podcast. In episode 38, Dewey reflected on his annual “State of the Grid” message to market participants and policymakers at the company’s Management Committee, highlighting several areas of focus that he says will drive the work of the NYISO in 2025. Dewey outlined pillars necessary for a reliable clean energy transition and related ISO initiatives now underway. These include a major effort to examine options to modernize the capacity market and more accurately assess resources’ unique contributions to resource adequacy. Through NYISO planning studies, the organization also continues to examine declining reliability margins, additional transmission needs and extreme weather risks.   “We've seen some dramatic changes, but one of the things that has not changed in this time period has been our steadfast commitment to the reliability of the power system and everything that we need to do to ensure that we can keep power flowing for New Yorkers,” Dewey said. “It's just so essential to the health, safety and economy of New York.” In this latest episode of the Power Trends podcast, Dewey also reflected on 2024 and ongoing energy sector trends, including the retirement of legacy power plants, the electrification of housing and transportation, and the influx of large loads like data centers, chip fabrication and traditional manufacturing plants.    “There is a fantastic news story of economic development across New York state with the addition of factories and data centers,” Dewey said. “Planning for that load growth — which translates into job growth and expansion of the economy — is exciting, but it's also challenging from the standpoint of making sure we have a reliable electric system that can meet that demand. Dewey highlighted NYISO innovations and successes over the past year including changes to the process of studying the reliability impacts of new generation and large loads that seek to connect to the grid. Hundreds of wind, solar and battery storage projects are currently being evaluated through the NYISO’s new streamlined process.  Looking at the federal landscape, the NYISO is developing a compliance plan for FERC Order 1920, to strengthen the long-term regional transmission planning process, Dewey said. Dewey also discussed the company’s emphasis on creating a “learning culture,” which he says is necessary for innovation in the modern-day energy sector. The NYISO has been able to recruit and develop a talented and diverse workforce prepared to meet the challenges ahead.  As the NYISO works to build out a clean and reliable electric grid, the organization also continues to invest in its collaborative relationships with neighboring ISOs, RTOs, state and federal agencies and stakeholders, according to Dewey.  “The electric system in the U.S. is one of the largest machines ever built. We're continuously dependent on our neighbors and the power systems that are adjacent to us,” Dewey said. “The ability to work collaboratively across the industry is going to continue to be crucial to our success.” Learn More Follow us on X/Twitter @NewYorkISO, LinkedIn @NYISO, Bluesky @nyiso.com Read our blogs and watch our videos

As temperatures drop, New Yorkers turn up their thermostats and demand for electricity rises. In anticipation of the cold season, the NYISO Operations team develops a winter preparedness report that evaluates the ability of the grid to meet demand on the coldest days of the year. The NYISO’s 2024-25 Winter Assessment considers load forecast, the capacity of generators, the transmission system, and the availability of fuels that power fossil-fuel generators across the state. This year’s Winter Assessment finds sufficient reliability margins under forecasted conditions, but in extreme cold weather, fuel shortages could affect those margins.    In our latest Power Trends podcast, NYISO Vice President of Operations Aaron Markham discusses how his team works closely with generators, neighboring grid operators, and government agencies to prepare for the winter season and respond to challenges as they arise. Listen to the podcast to learn more. Read more: New York’s Electric Grid Prepared to Meet Winter Demand Press Release New York’s Winter Grid Reliability Challenges Fact Sheet Learn More Follow us on X/Twitter @NewYorkISO, LinkedIn @NYISO, Bluesky @nyiso.com Read our blogs and watch our videos

How will the demand for electricity, a changing generation mix, and the transmission system evolve over the next 10 years? This is the question that our Reliability Needs Assessment (RNA) examines in order to assess and identify impacts to reliability. In the latest Power Trends podcast, Senior VP of System & Resource Planning Zach Smith dives deep into the 2024 RNA to explain how the NYISO analyzes demand forecasts, seasonal variations, and the impact of electrification on heating and transportation to ensure the grid can meet future needs. Smith covers report findings that include the identification a Reliability Need in New York City in the summer of 2033, as well as changing scenarios that could solve for the need. Additional topics covered in the conversation include the NYISO’s Interconnection Queue, large energy-intensive projects, and important grid investments such as the Champlain Hudson Power Express. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in the future of New York’s power grid and the many scenarios that must be examined to ensure its reliability. Listen now to learn more. Additional Resources 2024 RNA Fact Sheet2024 Reliability Needs Assessment Learn More Follow us on X/Twitter @NewYorkISO, LinkedIn @NYISO, Bluesky @nyiso.com Read our blogs and watch our videos

As the diversity and scale of energy resources have evolved in recent years, NYISO’s market design team has been working hard to create and implement market innovations to support those technologies. The most recent example of NYISO's commitment to innovation is the launch of a first-in-the nation program to integrate aggregations of distributed energy resources (DER) into the wholesale electric markets. This ground-breaking program allows small-scale resources including solar, wind, battery storage, and fuel cells to be aggregated as a single, dispatchable resource. In episode 35 of the Power Trends podcast, NYISO’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Emilie Nelson discusses the potential impacts of the DER program on New York's ambitious climate goals as well as NYISO's real-time management of the bulk power system. "When we look at the clean energy policies of New York State, we really need to create a framework that allows investment in all technology options," said Nelson. While the cumulative benefits of the DER program will take time to be fully realized, the new market design was lauded by Willie Phillips, Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and former FERC Commissioner Allison Clement. In the order that approved NYISO's DER market rules, they stated, "We are only now leaving the starting gates in unlocking the potential of DERs to provide reliability value to our grid, but that value will be essential to ensuring we meet new and emerging reliability challenges in the future in an efficient manner that protects customers. To date, NYISO has been at the forefront of developing a participation model for DERs and seeking to implement that model expeditiously." NYISO forecasts distributed generation in the state to roughly double over the next three decades as the state strives to have 70% of its electricity generated by renewable resources by 2030 and achieve a zero-emission power grid by 2040. Listen now to learn more about NYISO's DER program. Additional Resources: DER Fact SheetDER Press ReleaseLearn More Follow us on X/Twitter @NewYorkISO, LinkedIn @NYISO, Bluesky @nyiso.com Read our blogs and watch our videos

Our mission at the NYISO is to ensure power system reliability and competitive markets for New York in a clean-energy future, and to work with all stakeholders to build the cleanest, most reliable electric system in the nation.  In keeping with our mission, we operate a capacity market to meet resource adequacy requirements and serve consumer demand. The capacity market acts as a transparent and cost-effective mechanism to avoid the danger of service interruptions and outages. As older resources retire and new resources transform the way the system responds, capacity markets have become even more important to preserving system reliability. However, not every region in the U.S. has a capacity market to support reliability and resource adequacy. For example, Texas and California do not operate capacity markets.  The Capacity Market’s demand curve reset process In New York, the inputs that factor into the setting of capacity market prices are developed in a process known as the “demand curve reset.” In this episode of the Power Trends podcast, Shaun Johnson, Director of Marker Design, explains how the process works. “The first thing we do is focus on proven technologies that meet system needs. We're trying to meet reliability for consumers at the lowest possible cost.”  Referred to as “proxy units,” these technologies must be capable of responding to peak demand conditions and while meeting environmental and other regulatory requirements to operate in New York. Johnson explains the difficulty in transitioning from a generation fleet with one set of reliability attributes to one that is more intermittent, and weather dependent.  The demand curve process assesses the cost to build and maintain capacity supply resources in order to be available when needed. That includes costs for equipment, construction, and financing, among others.  Johnson describes the capacity market simply, “The capacity market is getting commitments from suppliers to help us meet reliability requirements and reduce the chances of the outages, even if they're not operating those facilities frequently.” Listen now to learn more about the capacity market and the demand curve reset. Learn More Follow us on X/Twitter @NewYorkISO, LinkedIn @NYISO, Bluesky @nyiso.com Read our blogs and watch our videos

When we talk about building a more sustainable future, the journey is as important as the destination. Steering the electric grid through these monumental changes requires leadership and creativity.  As the NYISO’s Director of Grid Transition, Udayan Nair oversees the integration of new elements of the industry into our operations and planning functions and works to facilitate coordination across teams. “A change of this magnitude is going to impact all parts of the organization,” Nair said.   “It's going to require the collaboration of the entire sector to be successful in this mission.” New York’s ambitious climate agenda inspired Nair to relocate his family from Ontario to Albany last year to head up the grid transition team and make sure the organization is well-positioned for the future. With combined expertise in demand forecasting, environmental engineering, gas and electric coordination and power system engineering, his team is tackling numerous challenges around the power system transition that is well underway.   In our latest Power Trends podcast, Nair discussed some of these challenges, including the impacts of the electric system’s evolving demand profile, the retirement of thermal energy resources, extreme weather events, shrinking fuel security margins and questions around how renewable resources will interact with the grid.  Nair’s department works proactively to formulate solutions to these problems. Increasing coordination between the NYISO’s operations and planning elements is the first step. They also perform detailed engineering studies to integrate inverter-based resources, assess the impact of environmental policy on the generation fleet, and provide real-time engineering support to the control room. Maintaining grid reliability through this period of uncertainty is central to the NYISO’s mission. Data can help illuminate the path forward, Nair said. His department is now looking to add a data scientist who can support the department’s various functions and enhance the NYISO’s forecasting capabilities.   Nair’s experience in three power sector verticals – transmission, generation, and system operations – has given him deep understanding of the grid and the conditions that must align to keep the system going.   “It helped me understand and appreciate all the things that have to happen perfectly, so that when you turn on that light switch, the power comes on,” he said.  Nair earned a Master of Engineering from the University of Waterloo and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Toronto. In addition to working for multiple system operators, he has held positions at the electricity generator Ontario Power Generation, leading transmission owner Hydro One, and the vertically integrated utility company ENMAX. New York’s climate plan raises complex questions, many of which have yet to be resolved, but the state is not alone in its effort to transition to a cleaner, greener electric system, Nair said. Maintaining a stable grid throughout the transition requires close coordination with neighboring system operators, especially during extreme weather events.  “We don’t have to reinvent the wheel. When we look across the nation, everyone is embarking on this clean energy journey simultaneously,” Nair said. “Other ISOs are on different points in their journey, but they may have trialed certain techniques and practices which work very well. What can we learn from them?”  Achieving New York’s clean energy goals will require collaboration with Learn More Follow us on X/Twitter @NewYorkISO, LinkedIn @NYISO, Bluesky @nyiso.com Read our blogs and watch our videos

What does the path to a decarbonized grid by 2040 look like? Dr. C. Lindsay Anderson of Cornell University is working to answer the question of where best on the grid to incorporate large amounts of new generation on the future grid to achieve optimal performance.  Anderson is chair of Cornell’s Department of Biological & Environmental Engineering. Her research focuses on creating detailed models of energy systems to see how they’ll perform under different conditions. Her other research interests run the gamut including energy economics; the future of nuclear power including fusion; renewable power systems including solar, wind, geothermal and hydropower; energy conservation by users and demand-side management; and global climate change. The research team at the eponymous Anderson Lab is looking for ways to modify the algorithms used to make decisions on operating systems. The lab’s modeling is comprised of numerous independent data sets including those provided by NREL (the National Renewable Energy Laboratory). Anderson notes that NYISO’s publicly available datasets play an essential role in validating historical power flows, peak load patterns, and market behaviors. “The last thing we want to do is keep all the fossil generators online and running just in case we need them,” she said, “because that undermines our ability to decarbonize.” A big part of the research deals with considering the practical implications of the CLCPA. She calls it an exciting opportunity to look at New York’s climate goals and determine how they’ll work Talking to people at the NYISO who know the system well is another important part of the process according to Anderson. She cites our ongoing System Resource and Outlook reporting and analysis of multiple decarbonization scenarios as essential in understanding the numerous variables and impacts. Some of those challenges result from geospatial issues. Renewable energy generated upstate still needs to be transmitted to downstate where the demand is greatest. “The offshore wind off Long Island is key to that because it's located down there and wouldn't have to come through those lines. So those being effectively built up is going to be critically important,” she said. Moving forward, modeling the ideal end state of a decarbonized grid is as important as anticipating the steps along the way in order to understand the iterative impacts of integrating new technology, and how we keep the system reliable throughout the transition. Additional Resources and Information Dr. C. Lindsay Anderson bio | Anderson Lab  Learn More Follow us on X/Twitter @NewYorkISO, LinkedIn @NYISO, Bluesky @nyiso.com Read our blogs and watch our videos

Columbia University’s Daniel Zarrilli knows a thing or two about New York City and the effects of climate change. For almost a decade prior to Hurricane Sandy, he worked on the city’s waterfront, managing maintenance and construction of the city’s piers and bulkheads, overseeing cruise terminals and other maritime assets, and working with coastal communities on a variety of local projects. That experience along the city’s 520-mile shoreline, plus his training as an engineer, put him in view of Mayor Michael Bloomberg as he was standing up his initiative to rebuild New York following Hurricane Sandy and make it more resilient. Bloomberg appointed Zarrilli as the city’s first resilience director. He then became Chief Climate Policy Advisor under Mayor Bill de Blasio, helping usher landmark energy policy through the city council, which mandates emissions reductions produced by the city's largest buildings of 40 percent by 2030. Now Zarrilli serves as Special Advisor for Climate and Sustainability at Columbia University, helping to create a new world-leading climate school and advising on pathways to achieve the university’s deep decarbonization goals.  This wealth of deep experience and expertise makes him a valuable addition to the NYISO’s Environmental Advisory Council, a group of outside experts that informs NYISO leadership on evolving state and federal climate policy and environmental justice considerations. Local Law 97, New York City’s building decarbonization law passed in 2019, requires most buildings over 25,000 square feet to meet new energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions limits, with even stricter limits coming into effect in 2030. There are already indications that the policy is working, Zarrilli said.   “New Yorkers have so much to be proud of for the progress that has been made,” Zarrilli said. “There were $20 billion in climate adaptation investments made after Hurricane Sandy, everything from flood protection to grid upgrades to new elevated hospitals in our coastal communities.”   “I think the much more exciting thing about Local Law 97 is how it has catalyzed this marketplace in New York City around clean energy technology, innovation, and investment that is all now centered in New York City,” he said.  “So much of our infrastructure was built for a world and a climate that doesn’t exist anymore,” he said. He pointed to concerns about global economic conditions and supply chain challenges that can make electrification projects difficult. In the offshore wind space, he noted that some coastal communities have zoning concerns and questions that must be addressed and answered. Zarrilli credits the NYISO’s forward-thinking approach to the wholesale electric market, which he says will drive incentives to speed up the clean energy transition.  “The role that the NYISO plays to help provide that stimulus and incentive is really important, and not a fully appreciated role,” Zarrilli said, “but it's a critical one that I think the state and other ISOs are going to continue to learn from. Additional Resources and Information The New York ISO Environmental Advisory Council Columbia Climate School Learn More Follow us on X/Twitter @NewYorkISO, LinkedIn @NYISO, Bluesky @nyiso.com Read our blogs and watch our videos

You might say Nicole Bouchez’s role as the NYISO’s Consumer Interest Liaison and Senior Principal Economist combines deep data analytics with good, old-fashioned customer service.  She has an especially important responsibility evaluating the impacts of major market design changes for stakeholders, policymakers, and market participants. That’s where her PhD in International Economics comes in handy.  But a large part of her job also includes working directly with some of the largest energy consumers in the state so they understand those studies and how changes to electric system planning, operations, and decarbonization policies might impact their bottom line.  “Consumers are always concerned about costs,” Bouchez said. “They're also concerned about the technology switch that's happening and how smooth that's going to be. They're concerned about reliability, as we all are.” In addition to performing consumer impact analyses, her office also responds to consumer questions about the markets and provides important training and information sessions. Her knowledge of the New York energy markets and her time as Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at Royal Holloway, University of London, make her especially suited for that responsibility. Bouchez’s role is unique even among ISOs and other research entities. She says one of the things she likes most about her job is how outward-facing it is – interacting with a diverse cross-section of market participants and stakeholders invested in the future of how the electric system will perform. Her office accesses “real-world” electric systems data in its presentations and materials for stakeholders, providing a deep but comprehensive look into how the energy industry and the grid is changing.  “We’re able to leverage that information in our analyses, which is quite exciting,” she said. Bouchez, who co-chaired a task force in 2017 designing a carbon pricing proposal, is optimistic about the role that markets can play in supporting the grid of the future. “We learned a great deal about how we can incorporate carbon dioxide emissions costs into our markets to support clean energy policy goals without jeopardizing reliability,” Bouchez noted. She explains that if competitive wholesale electric markets can integrate the cost of carbon dioxide emissions, there’s more incentive to efficiently invest in cleaner resources. As New York State studies its options to meet the goals of the CLCPA, Bouchez thinks the task force’s efforts are important and especially timely. “I think that there is a desire to lower our carbon emissions as a country and as a state. It's taking us down a future that I could have never anticipated in 2017 when we started this. This is a really exciting time for [the industry],” she said. Additional Resources and Information: At the NYISO, "Independent" is (Literally) our Middle NameEnergy vs. Capacity: How Teamwork Between Markets Supports a Least-Cost Approach to Grid ReliabilityLearn More Follow us on X/Twitter @NewYorkISO, LinkedIn @NYISO, Bluesky @nyiso.com Read our blogs and watch our videos

In this episode of our Power Trends podcast, Julie Tighe discusses her role leading the New York League of Conservation Voters, and her recent addition to the NYISO’s Environmental Advisory Council (EAC). The EAC, which was formed in 2005, provides information and analysis on state and federal environmental policies relative to NYISO’s mission of grid reliability. “No one is going to be happy if the air conditioning goes out in a heat wave. So, we need to be strategic about that,” she said. NYLCV’s efforts range from advocating for clean air and water to working with the real estate industry on constructing greener buildings.  “[The League is] the political arm of the environmental movement here in New York, where we really hold elected officials accountable for their actions on environmental policy,” she explained. In the interview, Julie discusses new grid-level technology being developed, including thermal energy networks, that could address growing consumer electric demand. Tighe said it’s crucial to avoid “pie in the sky policy” and work on practical solutions that address decarbonization goals while maintaining system reliability. Julie also speaks to the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act of 2019, arguably the nation’s most ambitious set of state decarbonization policies.  “On the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act…the state went through a robust planning process with a significant amount of public input, lots of stakeholders who were involved in the conversation, really setting out the roadmap for how we are going to achieve these big, bold, ambitious goals of getting to an economy that is 85% emissions reduction by 2050,” she said. “We need to have big stretch goals…but I also think we need to make sure that they are, in fact, technically achievable in a manner that's affordable,” she said.  Read the announcement of Julie Tighe’s addition to the New York ISO’s Environmental Advisory Council Additional Resources and Information Environmental Advisory Council New York League of Conservation Voters  Learn More Follow us on X/Twitter @NewYorkISO, LinkedIn @NYISO, Bluesky @nyiso.com Read our blogs and watch our videos

New York’s recent peak day for electricity consumption came during a heatwave, as millions of people relied on their air conditioners to keep cool. That’s not unusual. However, some of the circumstances leading up to that day still provided a challenge. On our latest Power Trends podcast, NYISO’s Vice President of Operations Aaron Markham discusses what goes into maintaining a reliable grid during a late-season heatwave.  The peak load on Sept. 6 was just over 30,200 megawatts. New York’s historic peak demand is 33,956 megawatts, recorded in July 2013. Markham pointed out that there have been several system changes since then, like generator retirements.   It’s unusual to see a peak day in September. The high-demand days usually come in July or August when hot, humid conditions drive up the desire for air conditioning. Besides the peak coming later in the season than expected, there were other unusual factors that came up. “We had some generation that became forced out of service,” Markham said. When something like that happens, the operators in the control room activate contingency plans. “That resulted in us committing some additional generation to make sure we had sufficient supply,” he explained. On a peak day like this, very close coordination with utility companies is also essential. “The expectation is that we've talked through all the potential contingencies that could occur,” Markham said. “What is a system going to look like? What is the set of resources that we're going to use to resolve that and make sure that everybody is on board, from the neighbors to the utilities in the state, to the NYISO operators in the room.” Challenging situations aren’t limited to warmer months. Markham’s team of operators had to deal with a different set of conditions brought on by sudden extreme cold in December 2022.   With high demand for natural gas to heat people’s homes, meant less gas available for generating electricity. “We have a survey process where we actually reach out to the generators to look at…what is their fuel supply situation? Do they have alternate oil backup in the tanks? Are they expecting deliveries of that?” Markham explained. “So that's another aspect that comes into winter operations, all of which we did leading up to this event.” Events like this demonstrate New York’s system is reliable, Markham said. “We were able to maintain flows within limits, all the various parameters on the power system within limits. And we still did have, through the event, some surplus capability,” he said. To learn more about our Operations Team and how they manage the grid, listen to the podcast. Additional Resources and Information Real-Time Dashboard Shaving Peaks with the Sun Staying Cool in the Deep Freeze: How NYISO’s Forecasters Performed During Winter Storm Elliott Learn More Follow us on X/Twitter @NewYorkISO, LinkedIn @NYISO, Bluesky @nyiso.com Read our blogs and watch our videos